Chapter 9
“Yes, Felicity, we all have the same goals, but I don’t think our number one official talking point should be ‘DEFEAT brUCE AND MAKE HIM REGRET EVER DARING TO DO BATTLE WITH US’ in all capital letters.
” Sam crossed out Felicity’s addition to the whiteboard, which seemed a little petty since she could have erased it completely instead.
“I don’t know,” Nic said from where he was stationed at the kitchen sink washing the dinner dishes. “To me, that shows our passion.”
“Very good suggestion,” Thea agreed. Her multi-dimpled grin was the most disarming thing Felicity had ever seen, and clearly Courtney was obsessed with her. Nic beamed every time he looked at his cousin and her wife sitting beside each other at the Powells’ enormous kitchen table.
“What if we have an official version and an unofficial version?” Courtney said, poking her wife’s cheek.
Apparently, Courtney, Thea, and Nic were all living together in a rental house around the block until Courtney and Thea’s home was finished being built outside town.
They had wanted more land than the small city lots afforded, and they kept talking about pigs?
Strange. Sam and Abbott had the same happy pride as Nic did about the newlyweds’ happiness, Sam emanating giddiness any time the two women touched.
And Sam’s grandpa, Dr. Powell, presided over all the joyful thirtysomethings from his leather recliner chair in the corner like the wise and jolly grizzly-bearded patriarch he was.
It was so adorable to see everyone oozing happiness that Felicity felt a strong urge to vomit.
If she still had a therapist, she would probably have asked them about that.
Abbott strode back in from Dr. Powell’s home office at the front of the house and dropped a stack of pages on the table.
“Take a look at these. I’ve been compiling research on the best way to fight this from several legal perspectives.
” He chuckled. “I’m guessing Felicity wrote objective one. She has my support. No notes.”
Sam groaned. “An unofficial list of objectives and an official list. Fine.”
“See how important you are to this conversation?” Nic winked and patted her arm once, then he began toying with the stack of papers in front of him.
Felicity pretended she didn’t have an intense, visceral response to his touch. “Do you, um, want a beer or something? I’m going to get a water from the kitchen.”
“Oh, that’s not mine.” He nodded at the beer. “It’s Abbott’s. I don’t drink except at work. Probably not a boundary you hear much when you put it like that.” He winced. “I mean that I taste—”
“You’re a chef. I get it. You do what you need to do for work but don’t drink socially.”
“Exactly.” Nic looked relieved.
“I don’t really drink anymore either. I’m on meds for my ADHD, and I don’t really like the feeling of drinking when I’m on them.”
“I get that. Think you could grab me a sparkling water?”
“You bet.” She winked at him and walked into the kitchen, hoping he missed the way she walked straight into the doorframe on the way there.
They spent three more hours discussing public policy questions.
Felicity knew a lot about the history of the area that could be helpful, while Nic had spent a lot of time working with businesses and gave the occasional suggestion on how to approach particular issues with the local chamber of commerce.
Thea had produced a packet of annotated photographs to use to help them show evidence of the harm that would be done to the neighborhood if the garage was built.
Courtney’s contributions involved wordsmithing, and she had been taking some graphic design classes in her downtime that proved useful for creating the presentation package.
As they were wrapping up, a call came in on Nic’s phone, and he excused himself and stepped outside. Felicity refused to admit to herself that she was waiting for his large body to be warm beside her again at the table. He didn’t return.
When she began yawning so much it became disruptive, she decided to head home. Everyone else was staying to play some game, but it had been a long time since Felicity had spent an evening around so many people.
After waving off offers from everyone to walk her back to her apartment, she headed out the door. She followed the sidewalk two blocks and turned onto St. Clare Alley, which led to the back gate in the garden.
Raised voices had her keeping to the shadows.
She had never felt unsafe walking around St. Clare Circle, but from the sound of it, two people were having a tense conversation. As a former ER nurse, she knew half of staying safe was doing everything possible to avoid being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The voices moved closer, and Felicity backtracked a few steps, crouching down behind the gate near a large bush.
“You can’t just show up here.” Nic’s voice was low and almost dangerous.
“I was only passing through.” The voice was unfamiliar, but that loud sniff at the end was a sound she had heard before.
“Why didn’t you text me before you drove out? The restaurant isn’t even open. What do you think someone would think if they saw you skulking around here in the dark?” Something physical transpired between the two men then, but Felicity couldn’t see.
“I just need a break. I know I fucked up the last one, but you owe me.” The man coughed.
“I don’t owe you shit.” Nic’s voice had gone from dangerous to lethal. “You need to leave. Now.”
“I don’t have anywhere to go.”
Nic made a sound that was either a sigh or a growl. “I’ll give you a ride to the bus station, get you a ticket. But that’s all I can do for you. I’ve got to get some work done. Take it or leave it, but you can’t hang out here. You know that.”
“I-I’ve got a cousin out in Louisville. He’s been saying there’s some good jobs out there.”
“Perfect. Come get in the truck.”
“You … you got anything to eat?”
Nic sighed. “I’ll get you something on the way.”
“You ever make it work with that angel, Nico? You got a couple kids by now or what?”
Ex-wife, maybe? Girlfriend? Unrequited lost love?
“Nah. Things didn’t work out.”
“You were young. It happens, man. Her loss. As long as you’re not still pining though, right?”
“No, buddy. No, I’m not.” Nic’s tone had shifted again. It was gentler now.
“Good, because when Tammy left me, I was pining. Just made this shit worse.” As the two men walked closer, they briefly passed under the old security lights on the back of the building.
Nic had a hand clapped on the man’s shoulder.
They were similar in height, but Nic had at least fifty pounds on the dark-haired man with grayish skin, who looked like a strong breeze could blow him away.
“Let’s get you something to eat though. I’ll grab you some clothes too. Got an old suit I been meaning to get rid of. Should fit you fine.”
The conversation became only intermittently audible.
The ex–ER nurse inside her sensed that the man had some mental health struggles, but it sounded like Nic knew about them too.
The way he had spoken to the stranger reminded her of one of her favorite ER doctors, who had a way with psychiatric patients experiencing mania or psychosis.
There was tenderness and understanding in Nic’s tone—two things that sometimes vanished in providers after years of experiencing the futility of healthcare work under a system where insurance companies accepted vulnerable lives as blood money to fuel their billions.
As they walked out of earshot, Felicity moved from the shadows.
God, she didn’t miss that part of being in the ER.
A car door shut in the distance. Footsteps on the pavers had her spinning around.
“Hey.” Nic leaned on the garden gate, eyes in shadow.
“Whoa. Hi. Um. I wasn’t eavesdropping. How’d you … you saw me?” She appreciated the slight incline in the grass that afforded her the ability to look down her nose at him.
“I always see you, Felicity.”
“Oh.” Her breath got stuck somewhere under her left ribs. “Guess I need to get better at hiding.”
He exhaled a small, amused sound through his nose as he approached, taking a few steps up the hill so they were at eye level. He smelled a little like cigarettes. And sweat. “Didn’t I tell you that I want you to stop hiding?”
“You did. I guess it’s a little too obvious to be eavesdropping while hiding in the eaves.”
He rubbed his arms, looking around, his face inscrutable, much to Felicity’s frustration. “Sure is getting dark quicker, isn’t it?”
“Hard to believe it’s almost October.”
“Time sure is funny sometimes.” His hand lifted, as if to reach toward her, before he ran it over the back of his neck.
“Can … can I wait here until you get safely to your door and inside? Don’t have to.
Just feeling a little on edge tonight, and I’d love to know that you’re safe. Probably won’t be back until late.”
“Oh.” Whatever she had been expecting him to say, that wasn’t it. “Okay.” She hesitated. “Is everything okay there?” Felicity asked finally, her eyes flicking to the spot where the men had disappeared minutes ago. “That man, he’s okay?”
“Hopefully. He’s an old buddy of mine from culinary school.
He’s had some tough times. Needs a job. Bad time to be out of one.
Hard to cope when you feel like a failure.
Man, I’ve been there.” The last sentence was as much to himself as to Felicity.
A section of his hair fell into his face, creating a slash of shadow over one of his green eyes.
“Anyway, sorry I ran out on the planning. How’d all that work out?
Think it’ll be okay at the public forum? ”
Felicity smiled. “Hopefully.”
Nic mirrored her expression. “Well, could you fill me in on the plan tomorrow?”
“Sure.” She stepped forward until they stood on even ground. He towered over her.
He craned his neck and slouched. They were nearly nose-to-nose again. A wrinkle appeared between his brows as his gaze flickered between her eyes.
“I’m going upstairs to bed, then.” Felicity fixed the folded edge of his flannel where it met his forearm without letting her fingertips touch his skin. “I’ll turn on the light so you know I’m inside safe, okay?”
“Thank you,” he said with surprising intensity. He pushed a stray curl over her ear before putting his hand back into his pocket.
She took a couple of steps up the creaking stairway. “Good night, Nic.”
“I’ll come by tomorrow during the lull.” He rested a white-knuckled hand on the railing.
Without another look at him, she climbed the stairs, stepped into her apartment, locked the door, and switched on the kitchen light.